


Lagann: 2nd Spin

by Winton_Rain



Series: Lagann: 2nd Spin [1]
Category: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fights, Gen, Science Fiction, Sequel, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-08 03:39:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12855948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winton_Rain/pseuds/Winton_Rain
Summary: 25 years have passed since the end of Gurren Lagann. Spiral Nemesis is a constant threat that looms everyday, forcing the universe as a whole to conserve the usage of Spiral energy out of desperation. Humans are blamed, murdered, and feared across the universe due to rising tensions between humanity and the other Spiral races. Enter the Gurren Lagann Agency, a young up and coming team who defend the universe behind the scenes and try to put a stop to the injustices for all Spiral kind. This is their side of the story, this is their 2nd spin.





	1. Help me Simon!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An irate Nia Teppelin has decided to pay a visit to Parliament Tower. After shocking revelations about her husband's actions, Nia decides to confront him once and for all to clear any lingering doubts she has in her mind.

Prologue Chapter 5

_Another Time, Another Place_

Parliament Tower, once known as a bane to humanity’s existence, was now a beacon of hope. The tower held only the most elite members of society, the ones who would guide humanity. It is very uncharacteristic to have drama overpower the voices of logic and reason in an environment as regal and professional as this one.

Today is not that day.

A woman, long slender legs, red heels. She balanced on her feet perfectly as her footsteps stomped along the marble floor. Her long pink dress was clean, she was obviously someone of power in society as well. She presented herself fairly well normally, but for whatever reason today, she was a “pissing off person”. Another woman in green uniform, it looked professional, very secretarial, matched with her spectacles on her face. She held her back with whatever means in order to prevent the storming Princess from reaching her destination. 

“Princess Nia,” the brown haired woman calmly tried to allay her, “You're not supposed to be here until lunch. Simon is not expecting you until-” her voice escalating as Nia fought her way through the door to reach this, Simon person. Upon opening the door she saw him, this man, this blue haired man with a regal blue and red trimmed coat, white dress shirt and pants, it accentuated the contrast of his uniform. He looked a little quizzically at the door bursting open suddenly, the Princess right behind it. 

“Supreme Commander Simon I-” “Leave us, Kinon.” Simon calmly shut down the secretary, “It seems my wife has something very important to tell me.” Kinon took her leave and closed the door silently. Now all bets were off, Nia let her frustrations out. “Tell me it's not true…” 

Simon, noticeably putting on an act, puzzledly looked back, “What are you talkin-” “Don’t lie to me!” She cut him off. “Simon, tell me the truth, what happened?” She choked back a little tears, fearing the worst from what he was about to say. As Simon put his drill pen down, he placed both hands on his executive mahogany desk and pushed himself up. “You are alive because of a choice I made.” Nia briefly looked at his face, her instant horrified face, floral irises expanding as they reflected the shadow of the man who was once the real Simon the Digger, it was enough to culminate the anger to release a full open palm slap to his face. “Faack you Simon!” She just learned that word, obviously. “How dare you?” Nia wiped a tear away from her eye, “You really think by saving me, I wouldn't feel the burden of all you had to do to keep me alive? How cruel are you?”

“Cruel Nia?” Simon rhetorically snapped. Simon looked at her intently, arguing his point and escalating his voice to a fever pitch, “Cruel!? This whole Godforsaken universe is cruel: Kamina and Kittan and Makken and Kid and Iraak and Zorthy, heck, we even lost Balinbow and Jorgun, and you think I can take one more loss? The one blessing in my life? This world is not perfect! A million humans on earth, and you had to win the lottery and be some pawn for the enemy!” he caught his breath as he fervently spoke, “And I have to pay for that?” 

Nia collected herself. With only the only way she knew how to respond, she sweetly and silently smiled, she shook her head. She opened her eyes, a hint of sadness, a hint of desperation, and plenty of love, she tugged at his lapels of his coat making the weight heavy. “Simon,” she begged, “Please just take back every order you’ve set in action. Stop this right now. I...I...I…” she looked in an empty space on one of his shirt buttons, hoping it would stop the awkwardness of the situation. “I love you.”

Simon hugged Nia intently, resting his chin on her head, “I love you too.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and slowly extended her away, “So it pains me to do this. Guards!” Just then almost on cue, two armored masked enforcers came into the room, batons in hand. “Arrest the Princess on suspicion of treason, she is to be placed under house arrest at the Commander’s Mansion.” Nia couldn’t believe what she was hearing, as she began to struggle her arms to grab hold of Simon, the guards grabbed her. 

“Simon stop this! This is not what you want. I know your heart. Please stop this now!” It was almost as if everything was slow motion at that moment. The guards dragged the light Nia Teppelin farther and farther away from her freedom to speak. Nia saw his face, the stern face of someone deadly serious about the edict he just gave. His piercing eyes, staring at her as the elevator doors closed on her. Nia’s eyes, those soft floral eyes, they darkened at the last second, “Have I lost you Simon?”

The elevator ride was long, it was the longest elevator ride down. Each floor made Nia’s heart sink deeper and deeper. Her shock resonating in her mind as now she was a prisoner now to her own husband. They reached the ground floor. One of the guards gave her a slight nudge. “Come on Princess,” he rushed her, “Your Gunlimo awaits.” A Princess being held prisoner and being loaded into a Gunlimo? The thought was laughable. The Princess went in the backseat, a guard slowly and politely closing the door on her. That guard got immediately taken out by an unknown assailant. Nia was so sad, she never noticed this. 

She just stared at the ground of the limo, wondering and collecting her thoughts, still in shock about what just happened. To snap her out of her trance, the driver opened his partition to speak to his passenger. “I’m sorry Princess,” a familiar voice spoke. Princess Nia picked her head up slowly. “I wish this could be better circumstances. Unfortunately, you are now our prisoner.” His reluctant face gave way as he turned his head slowly to focus on the road ahead of him. Nia realized the precocious danger she was in. She turned to her left. A muscular rooster came on that side of the door, blocking her escape. To the door she came from, they activated the safety lock to prevent her from attempting to roll out. 

The driver stepped on his pedal with great gusto. The Gunlimo picking up speed, marching away as Nia could only frantically look at the back window as the sight of Parliament Tower began to get farther away. With one final breath she uttered one phrase:

“Help me Simon!”


	2. Welcome to the Agency

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Agency. Have you ever heard of them? Rumor has it they operate on the sidelines. While the world goes to shit, they clean up the mess that the main military forces of Earth do. But these are just rumors, do they even exist at all?

Chapter 1

_Neo Neptune_

The name of this planet certainly has a ring to it. It’s home away from home for the Humans of Earth. After the Earth Preservation Act that was passed 5 Earth years ago, half the population of Earth chose to mass exodus to this planet. The name of the planet was a misnomer. Whereas Neptune in our solar system is blue, the entire planet of Neo Neptune gives off a blackish hue. This is attributed to the constant black skies from the various chemistry of the gases which inhabit the atmosphere. To add to it, the entire planetary landscape and rock consists of 90% carbon. It’s a very tough soil to grow, but manufacturing of high tech equipment is the main export of this planet.

A planet mainly lit up by the soft neon lights of various district. It is cyberpunk to the core. The populace has adapted so, wearing clothing laced with LEDs and bioluminescent trims. The sign to an establishment in the Shouko District buzzes incessantly, they must have not replaced the fluorescents in a while.

_The Gunk Eye_

A man, hands in both of his jean pockets whipped his brown cape to his side before entering the establishment. He took his black-gloved right hand to adjust his brown cowboy hat, ruffling his short brown hair. He found the first seat he could in the establishment, this particularly empty establishment, save for maybe 3 people at the bar and a group of 5 at a table, and he began to listen to the news.

“In other news: Anti-Earth sentiment is on the rise these past months,” the anchor announced as it showed flashes of riots, looting, and violence, “These are the sights from Neo Neptune as these organizations are steadily on the rise.”

Neo Neptune, named because it was the 8th planet of its’ respective solar system and one of the few to compose 80% of water surrounding the land masses. One of the many reasons humanity of Earth so easily got their hands on this planet. The main sovereignty of this solar system, which they called Kepler 616, was extremely grateful for humanity’s achievement in ridding the universe of the oppression from the Anti-Spirals. A lot of Spiral Races were grateful. Earth was given gifts of planetary real estate, Neo Neptune was one of them.

But gratitude is easily taken advantage of, certain humans of Earth saw opportunity, cashing in the very planets owned by previous Spiral races. They began an excessive me-first mentality that irked the various Spiral races and over time this festered to become legitimate disdain. The news today just affirms that this is par for the course for humanity these years. These sentiments ran counter to someone who came on the news next to show a different side of humanity.

“President Rossiu,” the television called out, “Is declaring a state of emergency to evacuate certain districts. He affirms that the miniature black hole hurricanes are in fact NOT caused by fluctuations in Spiral Nemesis energy, but they indeed are just isolated happenstances of Spiral energy getting out of control due to the unique science of the universe itself.” President Rossiu showed himself on the TV. With body language reflecting a calm demeanor he basically acted out in front of his podium to allay the fears of the masses. “I assure you all, our best scientists are looking into this phenomena.” “President!” a press member interjected, “Is this the Spiral Nemesis we’ve heard about? Is the Spiral energy crisis a big contributor to this?” Rossiu looked at the press member with a smile. “We don’t know, all we know is that we need to prevent the loss of casualties and possibly prevent any further strain this is causing to the public.” He took a deep breath. “To alleviate some fears we’ve begun an initiative which took place years ago, but is gaining full steam these past couple of months. If you notice, the usage of Spiral energy has dropped, reliance on electricity, solar power, and traditional energy means is at an all time high, and we can see this has lessened the occurrence of these mini black holes that have sucked up from what seems like isolated capsule spaces to entire homes.”

“But President,” another press member interjected, “We use Spiral energy for the Perception Teleportation Transit and military Grapearl squadron. Are you saying that you’ve limited the usage of these means as well?” The president nodded. “The Perception Teleportation Transit uses minimal Spiral energy and even if it did create a strain, I cannot deny the requirement to keep loved ones of all the races together and in constant communications.” The president looked around at his audience, noticing worried press, family, and citizens.

“As you can see, peace is the name of the game these 25 years. We have many people who love us and hate us. By all means the humans of Earth are a very polarizing race. When we thought ourselves alone in the universe, we had no idea how hard it would be to reaffirm our stance that peace is what we wish.” the lady to the right of Rossiu wiped his brow a bit. The hot lamps of the cameras shining on him, causing him great suffocation in the face of the lights. “The Grapearl squadron at this time is not needed for wars, we’ve reduced the Grapearls and have made local police to deal with any domestic matters on each one of our planetary installations.” One last news reporter rose his hand, “But what about this so called Agency you have made that’s above this local police, are you saying they don’t use Spiral power at all for their enforcement?” Rossiu got serious for a second, but he regained his composure, “This rumored Agency you so speak of. If I were to have made one with this form of authority, you can be sure they would do everything in their power to abide by the laws which preserve as much life as possible.”

_CRASH!_

“Hey!” the bar owner screamed across to the table of 5 rough looking individuals, “YOU OWE THIS BAR A NEW TV!” “Eh put it on my tab,” a male boar with a nose-ring said, “What a load of crock that pres is.” “Yeah” a slithery voice interjected, “Spiral energy conservation? Just another way for humans to say, ‘you can’t use it, but we can.’” “What about this agency?” a stuttering yak voiced, “Do you really think they exist?” “If they existed,” a female educated them, “they wouldn’t be powerful enough to get the drop on what’s gonna hit em.” “So our guns came in?” a hairy cross between a man and ape asked. “Yes,” the woman replied, “Plasma energy assault, the best to bore holes through Earthling scum.”

A pile of weapons: handguns, uzis, things that looked like flares. They all poured onto the table from a burlap sack the boar poured out onto the table. Each member at the table examined their weapon of choices carefully. “Yeah” the lady with a slithering voice said, “I can see it now, Earthling scum running as I bust one in their teeth.” The half-ape half-man felt a bump from behind him.

“What’s yer problem!?” “Sorry, I heard there’s some arms dealings here and I thought I’d love to know who’s supplying you guys.” The man spoke with an inflected Southern accent. The ape-man looked at his face, he saw the black facepaint around his eyes, they trailed down his cheeks, almost to represent a crying face of black tears. “A Solerian eh!?” the yak asked, “You ain’t human, but we sure don’t like the ones who just bend over for them either.”

“I’m not bending over for the humans, I just want information, who’s arming you guys to the teeth?” The enemy was being cooperative, a little _too_ cooperative. “As you know Solerian, there’s a new game in town, we arming our anti-human brothas to the teeth. Private military corporations are making a killing, literally by ridding entire towns of humans.” “And the best part is,” the woman said, “The humans have no idea who hit them and what they’re facing, it’s an all out war they can’t win.”

“So who the hell did you say you work for?” the boar asked. “GLA,” the cowboy proudly said. “Who?” “G-L-A” he spelled it slower. Quick to draw, all five hostile individuals took up arms and aimed it at the cowboy. “Never heard of ya! And we never will.”

Just when the five individuals were about to fire, the cowboy whipped his cape off towards the table of five, obscuring their view, but bringing into his view two shiny revolvers. He unholstered them both in less than a split second, spun them around on their triggers, and begun twirling them before he unleashed a flurry of rounds right towards the table. He backed up, flipping over the table he was previously sitting on and then tipping it over to provide himself some cover.

The enemies were wise to do the same to avoid gunfire to the cowboy who got the first draw. “Well idiots!” the ape-man commanded, “we outnumber that stinking human sympathizer. JUST SHOOT HIM!” All five hostiles began to fire at the table which the cowboy had been hiding behind. Back resting on the bottom of the table, the cowboy looks at the hailstorm of bullets which missed the table and ended up on the wall. He let out a smile. “Bad shots,” he thought. “Yo, little help here Steel Samurai.”

A whoosh of air flew directly across the room, the enemies who all had their arms extended while hiding behind the table felt a cool breeze pass in front of them.

  
_SCWING!_

That’s all they heard. Their guns suddenly not being able to fire any longer, they kept pulling the trigger, but the audible click they heard with each strike hitting the chamber echoed the room. Nothing was coming out. It was then that all of them noticed, whatever had passed by them just cleaved their firearms in halves. The shocked gangsters took a look at what was left with their eyes gaping open and they’re mindsets going into an “Oh shit!” state of shock.

“You have no honor,” a noble voiced announced his arrival. The samurai sheathed his sword back. His white and baby blue uniform showed he was at least the cowboy’s senior, or maybe he just liked to dress in uniform much more than him. He stared at the cowboy with his small black beady shaped eyes. “Are you okay, Space Cowboy?” The space cowboy peeked his head from behind his cover, making sure the coast was clear. The bar was quiet enough to hear a pin drop, Space Cowboy broke the silence, “WHAT THE HELL NODA, YOU WERE SITTING RIGHT THERE AT THE BAR AND YOU DIDN’T COME TO HELP UNTIL NOW!?”

“WELL IF YOU DIDN’T DRINK MY SAKE AT THE BASE, REZA, I WOULDN’T NEED TO ENJOY EVERY LAST SIP OF THIS DELICIOUS RICE WINE!” The two glared at each other, the tension ready to be cut by the sword of the samurai they called Noda until they heard a cock of a shotgun. “HEY YOU TWO!” the bartender aimed his gun at both of them, “YOU HAVE HELL TO PAY FOR MY BAR YOU LITTLE-” “BUTT OUT BARKEEP!” they both yelled in unison as Noda sliced his shotguns’ barrel off and Reza shot two warning shots at his ears which shattered two bottles of...something on the wall. They were professional friends after all, what seemed like a genuine fight between the two ended up being the impetus for banter which lead to the next adventure in this bar. A good old fashioned bar fight.

Two men came rushing at Reza and he cooly flipped over one to feed him to Noda who met the assailant with a foot to the face. Reza took care of his guy by tossing him over his shoulder and promptly sitting down on one of the bar stools, signalling for a drink from a shocked barkeep. “Are you both done messing around?” a voice sounded in both of their earpieces. “Overseer,” Reza opened up, “You just darn missed the best darn bar fight ever if I do say so myself.” “Well great,” Overseer said over the communication line.

Overseer laid back in her seat, getting a glance of the three large giant sized screen monitors on her left, right, and middle. She brushed her long pink strands of hair to the side as they fell over her glasses that she needed to wear in order to see the monitors, and what the hell, she wanted to look smart too. As she looked at the middle monitor, she saw camera feeds of the back alleys of the bar where Reza and Noda started their commotion. “While you guys were busy putzing around, you let Big Time and her boys make a break for it.”

Both Reza and Noda looked at each other, slightly annoyed at the other for forgetting the mission, they both then changed their expressions from annoyance, to panic. “SHIT!” they both yelled in unison realizing how much trouble they were going to get in from the Chief. “Sylveria’s gonna hog all the action!” “Don’t worry,” Overseer confirmed, “Like you said, they’re on a beeline towards Stealth Ninja, she’ll take care of everything.”

Blocked corridors, debris, and plenty of neon signs lined the back corridors of the bar. The five gang members ran through with stride through these back alleys. This was their turf after all. But turf or no turf, they’ve never dealt with her before, they never dealt with a ninja. From behind, two gang members were hit with shurikens to the backs of their thighs, the snake woman and the yak. They could no longer walk. Whoever threw them was an expert at hitting the right arteries to incapacitate them. The three gang members decided to stop and look back at their fallen comrades. They all looked around with the same thought dancing in their head, “Just who the hell did that.” Before they could finish their thoughts, she came for them.

Soft, nimble, a prehensile tail, the ninja first went for the two big guys. “A punch to gorilla man’s face. Balance self on tail. Kick with hind legs under boar man’s chin. Flip yourself, tail rain down on your head little piggy.” the swift agile movements of the reptilian looking ninja took center stage to this one sided fight. Even outnumbered two to one, she handled them with ease. That’s not to say they didn’t fight back, the boar tried to outbox her, delivering as many right hooks as he could, aiming for her bulbous, scaly, skull. The ninja precedes her reputation however, dodging most punches and meeting some head on in order to deliver some strikes to the boar’s neck.

The gorilla came next, he tried to smash the ground which she stood, but she simply whisked away. She smacked him with her powerful tail, hard! The gorilla didn’t appreciate this move, he was much tougher than a direct tail to the face. She landed swiftly on her feet and proceeded to aim for performing various rapid punches to his chest, trying to find a weak point. The repeated pounding of the gorilla’s body made a rhythmic beat to her heartbeat, getting faster as she was desperately searching for a kill switch on the muscular ape who would not go down so easily. He decided he had enough, with both arms he grappled the ninja, squeezing her as hard as possible.

Sylveria was being crushed, but her skin started releasing moisture enough for her clawed hands and arms to slip out of his hold. She struck the gorilla’s two temples, dazing him. She felt the screaming and charging of another right behind her. Then her instincts kicked in. She kicked off her tail from the floor to launch herself up. Grabbing the boar by his nose ring, she completely flipped him by pulling up on his nose. She wanted to tear that nose ring off. But the boar went down to the floor first, pansy. With self awareness, she saw the gorilla slowly shake off his daze, she reacted quickly and launched herself to squarely kick him in the face. And now, they were both down. “One got away,” Sylveria thought, “Chief’s not going to like this.”

Overseer stood up as she slammed her palms on the dashboard console. “Team, I don’t have visual of the remaining target. She’s disappeared into the crowd.” “I have visual,” a voice responded. “Darry,” another voice addressed the overseer, “Gurren Lagann is on standby if civilian casualties are at risk.” “Roger that…” Darry reluctantly responded, “Rook, you’re up!”

The three professionals caught up as they gave chase from the back alleys, to the busy crowd infested streets of LED and bioluminescent wearing pedestrians. They scanned the crowd while engaging in friendly banter as they chased a woman running through the crowd, throwing whatever unfortunate person in the way of her three chasers. “So Sylveria, it’s not like you to let one slip through them slimy fingers o’ yours.” Sylveria was a woman of few words, looking like a gigantic lizard didn’t help trying to socialize with majority of Spiral races who looked human. Her thoughts and actions communicated and conveyed what she needed to say. Slight grunts could be heard when she truly disagreed with something. “Reza’s still mad Sylveria,” Noda reassured her, “He’s the idiot who let them escape in the first place.” Reza began protesting loudly. “If it wadn’t for Noda hoggin’ all the drinks in that bar I’d be sipping that good ol fashioned whiskey.” “But you shot it didn’t you!?” Noda chided. “WHO ASKED YOU BUN HEAD!?” Reza was right, Noda wore a top bun on his head made up from his large locks of blonde hair. Sylveria let out a smirk that you could see form around the gossamer mask she used to hide her mouth.

The mission was clear however, and they both focused to continue running and catch the perp. The villain herself wasn’t going to go down without a fight, she wicked and weave through the civilians and when she felt them get close behind her, she grabbed the first child civilian she could find as she knew she was being followed. There was an opening to her right, she took it, now being chased by four people, her chasers and the child’s mother. The child began crying uncontrollably while her chasers backed her into the alley, it was a dead end. Just what they wanted.

“Ok you freaks!” the woman spoke, “Back off unless you want this kid’s last sight to be the horrified face of his mother.” The frantic mother begged and pleaded for the villainous lady to stop and the would-be heroes to try to save her boy, but all three soldiers just folded their arms, understanding that to win, you need to win as a team, and this particular team had one trump card up their sleeve. The three soldiers turned their backs to the villainess, walking away to clear a view to the terrorist. The mother looked at the soldiers in confusion, “Are you going to save my baby!?” the frantic mother thought.

Suddenly, 50 yards away on a very high building, blinded by a nearby neon sign, a glint of someone’s rifle scope was seen by the hostage taker. “Oh no!” she thought. And that was the last thought she would have before getting a direct bullet right in between the eyes. The gunshot resounded in the district, crowds stared at the source of the noise, aviary animals native to Neo Neptune flew into the air. But most of all, the collision of the bullet to the woman’s forehead knocked her out cold, not as fatal as it looked from a certain perspective.

The devastated young boy ran to his mother, both mother and son in a warm embrace as the mother looked at the team, mouthing words of gratitude. The team on the ground looked towards the source of the gunshot. “Well done Rook.” Reza commented.

Rook read the lips of Reza from her scope, she smirked. She knew it was a good shot, but she was humble. “Venkatians, ” an older man with wrinkles approached behind her as she lay prone on the floor, “they look like humans, but their anatomy dictates they have a thick skull, making them impossible to knock out by normal means.” The red haired older man wore a military uniform and had a miniature drill around his neck. “But you remembered their anatomy, that’s some mighty fine work being your first time in the field and all.” The woman got out of the prone position. She quickly disassembled her rifle and packed it away. Her orange, blue, and white biker suit accentuated her curves. She made sure as she got up, to zip up her chest area of her suit so she could cover up her naturally gifted cleavage. She whipped her blonde hair to the side, revealing a set of cold, sharp, killer blue eyes. “Thanks Chief Gimmy.” She saluted. “No,” Gimmy firmly stated, “Thank you for the prompt execution. Mission accomplished.” The Rook smiled in relief as her first mission ended up in success based on her final actions. “Anne Littner…” the man called her attention.

_“Welcome to the Agency!”_


	3. Maybe He's Just Stressed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nia goes to visit Simon to deliver lunch. She gets more than she bargains for when she pays him a visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has an explicit version which you can read on this site under its proper title "Maybe He's Just Stressed." If you want to read this chapter as it was intended. Please be warned that chapter is very NC-17, it is considered adult and lemon, there are graphical depictions that are present in this chapter which if you do not perfer to read it, you may proceed reading this chapter below which has the content cut down to a T rating.

Prologue Chapter 2

The Anti-Spirals were defeated. The great Supreme Commander Simon came home, his love in arms, his jeesh fanning out from behind him in triumphant victory. Mankind won. Their arrival on earth was hotly anticipated. The return of Princess Nia met with some detractors at first due to her outright treachery against humanity, but it was something that she’d have to live with. The atmosphere around the universe was overall jovial and positive. For Simon and his cohorts, they took their time to enjoy life. Simon and Nia announced to Kamina City that the time was young, and celebrations were in order, starting with their wedding.

In the week leading up to the wedding, Simon and Nia needed their privacy. They took Lagann and themselves to some island that they saw somewhere along their travels and decided to enjoy life to their fullest. The week passed. The wedding passed. Nia felt that something strange should have happened by now, the only strange thing that happened was Boota, a little pig mole who sat besides the cutting board, didn’t chomp off the stems of her carrots when she would slice off the ends.

Nia looked at her hand, seeing her green beryl colored ring and wondered whether this was real life, or was it just fantasy? “Easy come...easy go…” she muttered to herself. She smoothly lifted up her cutting board and slid her carrots off into a pot of simmering thick soup. The smell was atrocious, but she knew her Simon would love it. She took one whiff of the stew and she knew it was ready. She took a ladle and served some to Boota in a bowl, leaving it on the floor for him to easily access. She picked out a lunch cloth, wrapped up their lunch, and made her way to the door.

Nia came out of her home, an estate that was front and center looking at Parliament Tower, and walked all to way to meet her driver at the car. “Hail Coco,” she sweetly smiled as she got in, “Well met.” Old Man Coco scratched his mustache and began driving. Needless to say, he was a terrible driver. He nearly hit multiple pedestrians numerous times, he stopped suddenly at every semaphore, and he turned hard at every turn. His height at the steering wheel clearly was not proportional either as he was too short to see the hood of his own guncar. 

But still, Nia smiled on, she loved Old Man Coco despite his flaws. His dedication to her was adorable, to a point where Nia would talk to him on the nights where she would get depressed, even though he wouldn’t talk back. The car ride was, a ride to say the least, and busy city life isn’t such a sight for Nia to behold. She only wanted to get downtown promptly so she could meet up with her recent husband. The man of her dreams. The leader of the free world. Supreme Commander Simon. She looked out of her window and saw billboards where now the Supreme Commander was a spokesman for everything. Need to sell a watch? Simon is your guy. Need to promote a show? Simon for hire. Need to get your pet out of a tree? Simon can save that too. 

Nia smiled at all the attention Simon was getting now and she was ecstatic for him, but she also selfishly wanted him for herself. “Milady,” Old Man Coco abruptly stopped the car, “Your destination.” Nia stepped out of the car and shut the door softly, she slowly clacked her heels along the pavement as she made her attention known she was coming to everyone in the vicinity. 

Everyone knew what those clacking heels meant as Nia walked across the granite floor and up to Simon’s office. To the security guard, it was his duty to allow the venerated princess to come in. To Kinon, Simon’s secretary, it meant Nia had a lunch appointment. To the young janitor who dreamed of bigger things, seeing the total babe walk by so he could briefly smell her cloudy hair was the highlight of his day.

Nia had lots of thoughts racing in her mind. Even at this age and at this time, she would get nervous when seeing Simon. She was his wife, they were married, it shouldn’t be awkward anymore, but it was. Nia put her hand on the door knob and slowly opened it, “Hail fellows, well-” “You cannot be serious Supreme Commander Simon!” a man in a white military suit incredulously overpowered his voice over Nia’s greeting. Nia was in awkward shock. What was this all about? Simon and Rossiu turned their attention to Nia walking into an awkward situation. “Advisor Rossiu,” Simon signalled towards Nia, “You’d best watch your tone with our guest.” Situation awareness hit Rossiu, “Apologies Princess,” he then laid a glare into Simon’s eyes, “But I think she should hear this too!”

“Hear what?” she piqued her interest. Getting right to the point and not wasting time. “Supreme Commander Simon wishes to send a battalion of Grapearls right in the heart of the Solerian Peace Summit we’ve scheduled in three months.” Nia failed to see the point, Rossiu forgot the slight lack of knowledge on current events to establish a proper opinion, she had been in deep space after all. “There have been rumors that the Solerians have been shadowing their true intentions by calling a peace summit in order to mount an insurrection against humans of Earth. But I don’t buy it. Soleria is a planet that was hit by their own Annihilation System. They’re world became a desolate, barren, unlivable place. Resources for food, weapons, and water are scarce and the purpose of their meeting is to establish peace, THEY NEED OUR HELP!”

Rossiu pointed his finger, trying to cast blame on the one man that Nia trusts with all her life. “Supreme Commander Simon here, he believes these rumors to be substantiated, he’s sending a Grapearl squad in the event of a possible ambush. It doesn’t make any sense to rile any further feathers, we’ve done our research and they’re no threat.”

“Need I remind you Advisor Rossiu,” Simon got out of his chair and stared out his wide panoramic window to view the city below him, “Your reputation and word went down the day you made the choices you did.” Rossiu took extreme offense, but he knew he was right, “Be that as it may,” he chose his next words carefully, he was already seething, “You’re right. You came to the surface, I followed. You defeated the Anti-Spirals, I ran. You married a Princess and I,” he thought about Kinon, “I lost her heart. But Supreme Commander, as your advisor, no, as your friend, won’t you see it in your heart to please not follow in the footsteps of Lordgenome?” 

Nia felt the need to interject here as she felt a slight personal attack here, “Rossiu,” she scowled a bit at him, this wasn’t going to end well, “I believe in my Simon.” She put her hand on her heart. “I believe in him with all my heart and I trust him. He is not my father, and I see no reason why sending a Grapearl squad wouldn’t at least provide some type of relief for the possible safety of humanity here.”

“Princess,” Rossiu scowled back, “With all due respect, you’re out of line.” That did it. Nia wasn’t going to take that anymore. “Rossiu!” she escalated her voice and pointed a finger at him, “By my order which reflects the direct order of Supreme Commander Simon, I hereby relieve you of stealing another minute of my lunch hour with Simon.” Well that went better than expected. Typical Nia, a situation could be the most tense, and she’d just slice it with her sweet innocence. Rossiu couldn’t help but lighten up a bit. “Hmph,” he chuckled, “Thank you Princess. I’ll take my leave, we’ll discuss later Supreme Commander.” With that, Rossiu took his leave. 

“Geez what was that about?” Simon asked as he innocently just feigned the responsibility. “I-just -saved-you-from-another-meeting.” She said in a singsongy voice. Nia nonchalantly walked over to a buffet table lined against the window wall. She ignored Simon’s devilish look on his face as she walked across and she sniffed her hair. “You won't believe my day today,” she began to ramble, “I was trying to boil this stew for hours, but Coco kept forgetting to remind me. I was in the garden and planting flowers, come to think about it I had to resow and replant.” 

It was then all of the sudden, Nia felt a hand on her bare shoulder. “Hm?” “Nia,” Simon longingly whispered into her ear as he crept up right behind her, now placing both hands on both sides of her neck and brushing them past her bare shoulders. “Simon?” she blushed as he began to nip the right side of her neck. She enjoyed it, but she knew that what he was trying to do was taboo. “Simon...you’re working...there’s a window…” She protested for him to stop lightly, but before she knew it, Simon managed to slide her dress off by grabbing the sides of her sleeves and pulling down.

He pulled off her dress and let it drop on the floor. Thank goodness her hair was long enough that it covered the important parts on her chest. Nia blushed uncontrollably due to embarassment. She turned around to face Simon, “Simon, someone can come in anytime, we need to eat lunch, and…” Before she continued her rambling, Simon shushed her lightly with his finger on her lips. “I’ve told Kinon no more meetings,” he gave his first soft kiss on her lips. “As for lunch,” he looked at her naked body, as perfect as ever, “I want dessert now!” Simon lip locked with Nia and began to smack lips together, taking his time to ensure he used his entire tongue to explore her mouth.

“I’ve got him wrapped around my finger...” she thought to herself as Simon’s tongue traced the outside of her lips, “...usually I do at least. Do I ever let him get his way? Guess I’ve been a little selfish.” Nia acknowledged. “But who am I to deny the needs of the Supreme Commander?” The Princess gave a silent salute to him as she offered her full submission to him. Nia’s mind then transported itself as she recapped her memories she had on the week leading to her wedding.

She recalls the seven days on the island. Living each day as if it was their last, not wasting a moment. Nia felt very spry after coming back, it was weird, she recalled her DNA being damaged during her Anti-Spiral transformation. She heard the doctors say words like, “She’ll never be human again,” or “It’s a wonder she’s still alive.” So because of this, they never wasted a second. After a whole day of activities to take advantage of this beautiful island, the sun would set on one side of the coast. On the other, the moon would peek itself, two celestial bodies seen at the same time. This romantic sight was enough for them to make love on that very beach. Simon reassured her every night. “You’re not going away, not now, not ever.” They made as much love possible everyday, as much as they can, and as long as they can. 

Nia’s thoughts about these tender moments with Simon made her tickled pink. She couldn’t live in the past anymore, she had to live for the moment. She spotted a lounger Simon had in the corner of his office. It was a gift from Rossiu, and Simon used it maybe once since coming back. Nia took notice of this, “Let’s break it in,” she playfully thought. 

They made love on the office couch now. Simon was steadying his pace to the consistency of his beating heart. 

Nia’s mind began to wander, it eventually went to a dark place, the Anti-Spirals. Pain, violation, extreme breakdown, and complete despair; this is what the Anti-Spirals made her feel as they began to tear apart her DNA to the quantum level. Entire patches of her body were missing and she witnessed everything: important organs, circulation points, pain receptor glands, all missing for brief moments due to the Anti-Spiral being performing the worst kind of rape on her. She knew the Anti-Spirals broke her perception that day, her body may be repaired, but her mindset could no longer be recovered. 

Anti-Spirals by nature were not in the business of performing sexual acts against Spiral kind, they find that low. But Nia still felt that they violated her: they violated her sacred body, they violated her mind, and to make matters worse, they tried to drain her into their collective conscience. To Nia, this was rape, and she was ashamed of this whenever she thought of Simon still wanting her after this whole ordeal. Simon was the perfect guy for her, he crossed the universe to save her, she only wanted to stay his forever and it was the least she could do. 

But still, it was Simon. She looked at him, his sweet face: hardworking, soft, innocent. It eased up her tension. She let her hands wander a bit more like her thoughts. They settled on his shoulders. “These shoulders,” she thought, “he's always putting so much of the weight of the world on these shoulders.” 

Simon kept increasing his pace, as Nia noticed the time for lunch winding down, even though they didn’t eat anything, she really wanted to give Simon the last laugh, she loves him after all. Nia was ready, she was going to give her everything to Simon, she wanted one last look at his trusting face, the one that’s kept her safe, she briefly glanced. 

Red circuitry? 

Her fear appearing on her face for a split second. She quickly closed her eyes and looked again. She was seeing things. Her mind was playing tricks on her. She felt absolutely guilty, but she knew that she needed to tell Simon to stop so she could recollect herself and her thoughts. Nia sweetly smiled at Simon with an uncomfortable but loving smile. “Simon…” she softly sighed, “I'm quite okay now… can you please stop?” Simon didn’t answer her, instead, he carried on with his actions, making the lovemaking a little more painful on Nia. “Simon, please stop. I love you. But I'm actually not feeling too well.” 

Simon's face turned dark, his hair shadowing his eyes from all expression for Nia to see. Nia could feel it in the air. This time, Simon was unrelenting, Nia was not prepared or expecting what came next. Simon began to get violent against her body. Nia grew concerned and this time begged as she was no longer having fun, “SIMON PLEASE STOP YOU’RE HURTING ME!”

Nia's brain was scattered, she never felt so confused in her life, tears streamed down her face. There is no worse feeling than having the man you love suddenly become someone else, perhaps even something else. Nia’s face frozen in shock. Simon looked at her. “Those eyes,” she noticed his cold and expressionless eyes. 

“Is he mad at me?” Nia thought, first and foremost. Simon pulled himself off of her and started putting his clothes back on. “Leave,” he coldly said. “Don’t you have a busy day back home today?” Nia’s regret and confusion piled on. “Simon” she apologetically sighed, “I'm sorry…I don't know what came into my mind. I just...“

“It's okay Nia,” Simon interrupted, “Sometimes I need to just accept you just aren’t in the mood sometimes.” Further from the truth, it’s true Nia didn’t come to visit him at work with the intentions of what they did, but she liked their moments together. She hung her head low, “I’m sorry Simon. I’ll go home now.”

A visibly broken Nia gathered her clothes and distressingly rushed to put them back on. Her hair wasn't decent, but she figured if she ran fast enough, no one in the hallway would see what she had just been through. It was embarrassing to say the least. Before she left, she turned to look at Simon one last time, already back at the desk reading a memo. “Simon, I liked it. I don’t know what came over me. When you come home, I’ll have dinner ready again ok?” 

Simon turned her direction and gave a fake smile, “Sure.” He responded. Then he went back to uncharacteristically look back at his work again. Nia knew whatever was bothering simon, she'd have to bear the responsibility for being partly to blame. As Nia went down the elevator, she once again wondered whether something was wrong with her again. Feeling as alive as she did, why did something feel off with her these past weeks? Nia then thought about Simon, why he would suddenly have needs in the middle of the day, why he would escalate by sending military might before a Peace Summit. She thought and thought again. With no further political clout or knowledge on the situations since coming back, she only drew one conclusion as she made her way back to her limo and looked back at Parliament tower one last time.

“Maybe he’s stressed.”


	4. You Break It, You Pay It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Walk tall and carry a big drill. That's what the "old man" taught me. I'm just looking for one big score. I'll finally be able to buy that place that the "old man" wants so we can get out of the dump we've been living in. Just because we're drillers, doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to live like kings. Am I right?

Chapter 2 

 

> Digging tunnels. It's a skill I learned from this old man I met when I was younger. The old man taught me so I can help aerate the parched soil that we stood on. And the villages need tunnels. This provides the soil air and water tunnel pathways. I hear back in my home of Waterton on Earth, it’s helped to provide a connection to the main hub of Kamina City. Waterways have expanded, commerce is flourishing, and Waterton is a village that’s turned from some barren wasteland, to a thriving garden tourist attraction. No one pays me with anything there. The old man told me that helping people is a virtue, that human progress is its’ own form of payment. But I’m not the old man, the world doesn’t operate on charity and give me’s. In this world, you have to make it, in order to break it. I intend to break everything now. This world certainly revolves around the path I've laid out. I'm just a driller, I don't think I'm part of some bigger plan. 

In a remote jewelry store right on the outskirts of Neo Neptune’s Diamond District, everything is closed around this hour. The curfew that the districts employ are fierce, it’s meant to ensure that the constant lights that buzz around Neo Neptune come off, to signify that there is a night time to Neo Neptune. That the black skies aren’t just a way to say that it’s always night in Neo Neptune, there are nights as well, people need to sleep. The Diamond District had its’ own circadian rhythm. This weeded out the upper class who would work in the daytime, and the lower class who’d ruin their eyesight at night to clean up the streets in poor lighting conditions.

 

Within that same store which houses some of the finest collection of diamond jewelry the Diamond District is known for, the windows began to shake. It was because inside, the porcelain tiles on the floor began to rumble. A cluster of 20 x 20 tiles implodes into the earth itself, without the foundation base, these tiles just decided to buckle under their own weight and fall into what seemed like a black tunnel under them. Out of the blackness, two brown cowlicks popped out of the floor. A young man, maybe in his teenage years, stuck his head out. He had his red cape draped over his mouth and his face was stuck with dirt and ash from the tunnel he just dug.

“Jackpot, “ he announced as he pulled himself out of the hole. He tried to slick his hair back, running his hands across his hair, his brown cowlicks stuck right back up right above his forehead. He took one of his free hands to pull the red cape he’d used as a makeshift mask off his face. In his other arm, he had a handheld miniature propulsion drill. Latest state of the art in drill technology, blows air so that as you drill, the sediments would clear out so you can see where you’re drilling. “Coast is clear guys.” As the boy carefully looked around for any other people in the dimly lit store, two other boys came out, one with a mohawk, the other with an afro. The three friends stared in amazement at all the diamond jewelry on display.

 

“Whoaaaa!” mohawk marvelled. “This is a good haul PeaCoco.” The two friends called the caped digger as PeaCoco, a portmanteau of the animal peacock and his nickname. This name in jest was meant to satire the cowlicks which would constantly stand on the top of his head, like a peacock. The boy they referred to as “PeaCoco” would not find this funny however, he tried to rush his friends. “Time to line your pockets boys. This is the motherload, after this, we won’t need to do another job for a while.”

 

“But won’t somebody miss this?” afro asked. “Nope,” PeaCoco responded, “This is Neo Neptune, diamonds literally grow on trees here.” He was right, Neo Neptune’s primary carbon earth guaranteed that the production of diamonds was much more in abundance here than on the planet Earth, where a majority of humanity comes from. “Besides,” he began to think as he was still stuffing jewelry into his bag, “I need this so I can take care of the old man when I get back.” PeaCoco seemed genuinely happy and concerned at the same time. Whoever this, old man he referred to, he referred to him with a silent and profound respect. “Sorry old man,” he thought to himself, “I know you don’t approve of stealing, but I gotta do this.”

 

All three friends continued stuffing their bags and pockets, they didn’t notice shadowy figures from around them surrounding the jewelry display cases. A single light turned on and provided spotlight right above them. “Well well well,” a voice sneered, “Look what we have here. Some young punks who think they have the right to steal from Big Mama Jama.” The three friends looked around, shadows around them with no clear faces. They saw their jewelry which they all wore in abundance, it reflected the one spotlight that the three friends were standing on. Afro and mohawk both ducked and hugged each other tightly, afraid of making the wrong people mad. PeaCoco took point and put his hands up.

 

“GUYS!” he said in a friendly tone, “Is this your jewelry shop? Wow I’m so sorry, I thought this was my uncle Steven’s back from Shouka district. Oh man, what a big mistake I made, these two idiots following me probably mixed up the underground tunnel directions. Ain’t that right guys?” No response. “Guys!?” PeaCoco looked back and saw two missing outlines of people who should have been there. He then saw the porcelain tiles he let cave into the floor magically seem to appear back on the surface, covering up the exit hole he was going to use. The patch up job was poorly done, but one thing’s for sure, PeaCoco’s escape plan was shot.

 

He annoyingly looked at the hole, in complete and utter humiliation as he felt he just got punked. “Looks like your boys decided to leave you.” PeaCoco rubbed the back of his head and began rambling, “Well here’s the thing, they aren’t really my friends they’re more like, my mother’s auntie’s sister’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommates from another mother and-” “SHUT UP!” Before he knew it, guns from all different directions pointed at the man in the center of the room. “Um guys!? Can’t we talk a little more?” PeaCoco pleaded.

 

“Oh you’ve talked quite a bit,” a man threatened, “Human scum, you gonna die here, less humans there be on this planet, and you won’t even make the news. Big Mama won’t even wanna know your name fool.” PeaCoco’s desperation became apparent. He had been in tough situations before, but this one took the cake due to the unexpected visitors. He’d certainly never been pointed a gun at before. He looked down at his feet, he saw black dirt, his mind began gearing and working. He had an idea.

 

“Gentlemen,” he began to talk, “I think we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Copernicus, friends call me Coco.” He lifted up his giant forearm mounted drill. “Look guys, I’m a driller, that’s what I do, I just use this puppy to make a living by drilling tunnels and the like. Would you like to see this work?” The shadowy figures leered their eyes. “Just what in the world is your game you punk?” Coco tweaked a couple of nozzles on his arm drill and pointed it directly at the floor. “Like you see, this drill has the latest AIR PROPULSION!” Suddenly, a quick flick of a trigger on his hand unleashed a huge gust of air. It caused the dirt which Coco left behind to kick up a ringed dust storm around him and temporarily blind his assailants. “SHIT SHIT!” Coco thought as he started dashing wildly towards what seemed like the back door. The shadowy figures coughed away the dust getting into their lungs and looked around. “Where da hell did he go!?” The men looked around until they found a gigantic hole which could fit a crouching person that led outside. “Find him.” One of the men said.

 

The lack of neon lights really hindered Coco’s sense of direction, he didn’t know which alley he was turning on or where he was going to go next. “Oh please!” he began to beg to the sky, “I don’t care what I’m going to have to do after this, I’ll clean toilets, I’ll cook for the old man every day, I’ll go rescue a cat out the tree,” he stopped to think about the last one, “Anything just so I can escape with this one haul.” As he continued to run, he made his way into one alley where he noticed a door, it was worth a shot. He knocked repeatedly, no one answered. As he heard the quickly approaching footsteps behind him, he decided to simply kick the door at the knob to provide the quickest entry way. He got in.

 

Coco quickly slammed the door, finding some chair he quickly shoved it under the knob of the door and slowly backed away from the door as he heard pounding on the other side. Coco let out a sigh of relief, “Well I say that was well worth it.” Just then, a large brown skinned woman appeared from behind Coco. Well dressed in a white suit, her main articles of clothing she identified with were a pair of black shades and a necklace with a sign of currency. “I’m Big Mama Jama,” the giant figure said, “That’s some interesting looking jewelry.” All Coco could do was just feel defeated, “Oh, what the f-”

 

SMACK!

 

Coco was living large. There he was, in the rainbow colored tunnel, drilling, drilling, and drilling away with his arm dril. The dirt turning into diamonds as he drilled into the earth. Coco’s eyes lit up and turned into currency symbols as he began drilling harder. Coco then drilled above his head and the diamonds further showered onto his head. “Why do diamonds feel so wet?” he asked a little surprised, but nonetheless happy, “Who knew diamonds could feel so refreshing.” He spit out some of the tiny diamonds that went into his mouth. Coco then reached the surface.

 

_DIAMONDS EVERYWHERE_

 

Out in this floral field where the flowers grew diamonds and the floor was lined with diamonds and the sky was lit up with a rainbow with the light refracting off the diamond clouds. Coco couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed and just fell supine into the soft diamond dirt ground. “DIAMONDS!” he sang along in total heaven. Coco spread his arms and legs from his supine position and begun to wave his arms and legs, making a diamond angel. The gigantic diamond clouds then began to float down to him. “Come to me my gigantic beauty!” As Coco’s face salivated at the floating diamonds, the first diamond reached his chest. “OOF!” It weighed literally a ton. It then slid off his chest and disappeared into nothingness. “Weird,” that’s all Coco can think. More diamonds were raining down from the clouds. Coco gaped his mouth open to accept all the incoming glittery bliss. “DIAMONDS!” Suddenly, a bunch of diamonds from the sky fell down. This time making other sounds as they hit him in the chest and stomach. “OOF!” “POOM!” “POW!”

 

_KLOK!_

 

Coco woke up, a single light on him as he hung loosely from a rope hanging him from one of the pipes suspended on the ceiling. His hair and face wet, dripping with water as he was splashed repeatedly by his captors. “So you do wake up.” A man with brass knuckles commented. “Good morning sunshine.”

 

_BAM!_

 

He let out a punch to Coco’s gut. Coco felt extreme soreness in the punch, spitting out some saliva out of his mouth. Quite honestly it was disgusting, but at least he could now speak. “Hey can’t we talk about this?”

 

_SOCK!_

 

“We done talked enough,” the man said adjusting his knuckles as they collided with Coco’s face, “You steal from the boss, you get pinched. One less human is better for the galaxy anyways.” The brass knuckles man pulled out a handgun and pointed it directly at Coco’s face. “Easy big fella,” a voice bellowed from behind the man with brass knuckles, “Can’t you see we have a guest today?” The powerful voice stepped out into the light and stood side by side to the man with the brass knuckles. “So Big Mama,” a rough military man said. He had a buzzcut, wore a camouflage jacket unbuttoned to show off his physique. His white tank top fit snugly on his defined olive skinned body, “This is how you welcome me to your warehouse? With you about to kill some kid?”

 

“Easy,” Big Mama responded while smacking her lips, “They don’t call me Big Mama Jama for nothing. This boy here done try to steal mai precious diamonds, and I ain’t having none of that. So you can understand that I am pretty pissed that I don’t respect this kind of disrespect.” Coco grew a little desperate, he just died, twice. “Hey Big Mama? Can I call you Big Mama?” Big Mama Jama had an expression of annoyance on her face, “Great! So here’s the deal, I’m sorry I stole your diamonds, but I just needed one big score. You see, my old man lives on Earth, see that’s where I’m from, and every year he gets ready for this festival, you know it’s a really popular one. He’s getting up there in age and I just want to make sure he sits on a nice goose egg so we can all take it easy. I’m sure one diamond could do right?”

 

Big Mama looked at him with contempt. “No? Well that’s a shame Big Mama, so I think you win this round. Those darn diamonds oh you, I’ll get you next time. So like let me go please?” Coco tried to bargain for his life. “Kill him.” It didn’t work. Coco had his eyes gaping wide open, “Is this how I die?” he questioned. Guns from many men already affixed on him.

 

_WAIT!_

 

The military man commanded. He scanned the room and found an arm drill on the table next to where the brass knuckles man would sit during his breaks. “That your drill?” He asked the captive. “Last I checked,” he replied. The man’s face lit up. He stroked his stubble with his index and thumb for a bit as he pondered.

 

“My name is Lieutenant Scourge,” he said in a coarse, but welcoming voice, “Don’t associate me with these criminals, but they have something I need.” Big Mama took offense, “Scourge,” she pointed her finger at him, “If you think we gonna take some punk boy thief on the heist, you gotta another thing coming.” Scourge, not intimidated by her attitude snapped back. “The Colonel is counting on me to finish the job...with or without you.” His tone began to threaten to walk out, leaving Big Mama and her crew without any business.

 

“Well ain’t that karma,” Big Mama sighed as she conceded, Coco didn’t follow what was going on. “I run guns, and the minute someone wants something better than what I have to offer, they rope me in with some punk kid with a drill.” She inched her way closer to Coco. “Listen here sonny,” she began to scold, “I don’t tolerate anyone trying to boost Big Mama, but you got something we could use.” “My drill?” he thought. “Yes your drill.” she read his mind.

 

“The plan is, there is this pesky little building we can’t seem to get into from the front door,” she ran her huge gigantic finger along the side of Coco’s cheek, it was quite disgusting really. “So we need to be smart and get a nice little back door if you know what I’m saying.” There are two things in Coco’s vocabulary he knew very well, the first was heist, the second was money. With the prospect of the heist but no promise of money, Coco only had one thing to ask. “If I refuse?” Lt. Scourge calmly stroked his green hair back. “Then I won’t stop these goons from turning you into swiss cheese.” Point taken.

 

Coco looked at both Big Mama and Scourge with defeated and agreeable eyes. Yes he was a thief, but he only liked to steal from those who knowingly deserved it and he only took as much as he needed, now that he’s helping the enemy, he didn’t know quite how to react to this turn of events. “I guess I have no choice…” he disappointedly announced. Big Mama waved her finger at him, clicking her tongue as she bent down lower eye to eye to Coco to tell him one last thing. “I sure don’t think you gonna disappoint me. After all, we have a saying in my crew, especially one for cocky punks like you.”

 

_You break it, you pay it!_


	5. Don't Ask, Don't Tell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne Littner is one of the most prodigious members of the Gurren Lagann Agency. She's a star rookie in the making. Is she ready for all the unpredictability that comes with being an Agent?

Chapter 3

 

_ Discrete Location, Neo Neptune (no pictures please) _

 

All the architecture on Neo Neptune looks rather similar. All storefronts along one side of the reflected street looked like something out of a story book. Anne Littner read such story books as a child with her mother and father. Something about faraway lands called “San Francisco” or “Brooklyn.” That’s what they looked like to Anne, the streets of “San Francisco” and “Brooklyn.” Entire storefronts, houses, and offices all cramped together in multistory dark brick buildings. Steps would lead up to the doors of the buildings. Each building was very narrow, probably no more than 40 feet across the front. 

 

The only thing that truly made these buildings stick out, was the neon signs. Their light buzzing would draw the attention of various Neptunian insects that behaved much like Earth insects, they followed the soft fluorescent sound, and promptly got zapped for it. If we peek in a discrete building’s window, we can see this ordinary building is anything but. It houses some of the finest trained members in the galaxy. Anne Littner stood across from a large brown oak desk with Chief Gimmy and the Overseer - Darry. Arms behind her back, she was following the lead of her senior agents who’d stood by her side in the same pose. “Great work team.” Gimmy sternly said. “Yes Chief!” they saluted in unison. 

 

Anne was in the center. “Chief,” she saluted with her right hand, “I’m very honored to be working alongside the revered Chief Gimmy and Inspector Darry. I look forward to numerous field missions in the very near future.” “And you will,” Darry reassured her, “Ever since I told Gimmy about your recent Galaxy Shooters Cup those many years ago, we knew we struck gold that day.” 

 

And struck gold they did. Three years prior to the Galactic Spiral Peace Conference, President Rossiu and his cabinet understood that like all governments, they could not always run with military might. The other Spiral Races would see this as a threat, that by flexing their technological muscles, they would establish themselves as the controlling race. It is through this seed of an idea that President Rossiu signed a classified executive order to form an Agency. One that would operate in the shadows for covert and high risk recon missions. Many of the office thought of names for the Agency, Gimmy and Darry only thought of one. 

 

“The Gurren Lagann Agency!” 

 

“It wasn’t very long ago that we were formed in secrecy all those years ago. It was much harder recruiting you bozos throughout the galaxies,” Gimmy joked. “Aw chief,” Reza blushed, “You’re too kind.” The tension broke and now all six professionals in the room began to banter and joke, ignoring all military code and etiquette. Reza rested his hands around Anne’s shoulders, ignoring all personal space. “Aw Rook,” he smiled at her as he pulled her in closer with his arm. He threw his hand up and waved it across the air, letting Anne focus on the hand. “Galactic Badass Sniper, The Rook, ANNE LITTNER!” he announced. 

 

Anne blushed and let out an elated smile as the rest of her teammates patted her on the back. Anne was normally cold and callous, in normal day situations, she kept a stern face and strutted with her chest out. The boys in the academy liked this, as her cleavage would always make them blush as she walked around. It’s not everyday that a female, top of her class in the academy, would be a total smoking hot blonde babe. It was probably due to her mother’s genetics. “Kiyoh,” Darry snapped her out of her camaraderie with her new team, “Your mother Kiyoh and Dayakka, have you talked to them recently?” 

 

Anne had a soft spot for two things in the universe so far. First, her team, she was making fast friends with them and immediately upon joining, she respected all the members. Secondly, her parents, who gave her to motivation and drive to achieve anything she wanted to. She graduated top of her class at the first graduating Gurren Lagann Agency Academy. “Yes,” she replied, “I talked to mom and dad every week when I was at the academy, there were P-Comms always around the Marmota.”

 

The training facility, Marmota, a battleship class Gunmen that would take an 8 year journey through space to reach Gurren Lagann Agency’s home base, the planet of Neo Neptune. This state of the art facility was meant to be an academy cruise ship of sorts. The facility was equipped with state of the art training. Simulated sparring arenas for Gunmen, Grapearl, and ground fighting. Shooting ranges that stretched more than the eye can see. Classrooms that would teach the universe around them - because you never knew when that knowledge would help. When Anne referred to the P-Comms, she was referring to the Perception Communication Network. A quantum speed of light network to link people together across the universe in real-time. She spoke to her parents every week like this.

 

“The difficult part has been getting you out of Dayakka and Kiyoh’s arms the day you went to the academy,” Darry reminisced, “I know how Kiyoh and Dayakka would feel. Their little girl, training for 8 years on a space boat, going on dangerous missions that they can’t know about.” Darry took a look at Anne and envied her youthful appearance, “But look on the bright side,” she scanned Anne from head to toe. “Space’s gravity has been mighty kind to the aging process.” Yes, the Perception Teleportation Transit was instantaneous, it got people from one end to the universe at faster than light speed, but if Anne reached Neo Neptune and had no training, then what? 

 

Anne thought about it for a second as she looked at the reflection in the mirror. “Guess you can count that I still act like a 17 year old too,” She thought. “Guess that’s the price I pay, I’m 25 years old this year, but my body hasn’t aged a bit. And for 8 years, I lived, breathed, and ate my training regiment. Is reintegrating me back into society going to make me normal again or something?” Anne thought a lot in her head, but her team, and friends had other plans.

 

“Drinking time!” Reza announced. Noda, Sylveria, and Gimmy pumped their fist. Darry looked at Gimmy with a glare, he wasn’t supposed to drink, he could feel the unease from his twin sister bore right into him. “Ahem,” Darry bossed, “I think we still have other matters to attend to.” Gimmy just then remembered the special “assignment” for Anne. “Ah yes,” Gimmy cleared his throat, “Team, you guys are free to go, except you Anne.” The rest of the teammates left the room with sly smiles on their face. Anne had a smile for already being trusted for more assignments, but she didn’t know the mission. 

 

She was a little jealous her team got to go out and have a drink, this would have been a perfect time to reconnect with Noda, they knew each other as kids. Reza and Sylveria were strangers as they came from different planets, but being one of the only other female field agents on the team, Sylveria and her hit it off, even though the giant lizard woman didn’t speak much. Reza on the other hand shared a connection because both of them were firearm users, Reza apparently has a thing for firearms.

 

“If you’re wondering why we won’t let you go drinking,” Darry started, “It’s because Kiyoh specifically told me, ‘As long as that girl still looks 17, there is no way she’s going into ANY bars.’” Anne inside felt abashed. “After all this time,” she thought, “You still treat me like a kid?” But that wasn’t important right now, she was curious, there was this “special assignment” that the two leaders mentioned, Anne was always on board for more field work. “I am ready Chief Gimmy, Inspector Darry,” she said respectfully. “Whatever the assignment may be, I’m ready to carry it out 100%. Although I do admit.” She hesitated. “The team is out having a good time and it’s just going to be me with ‘ol Lady Luck.” She patted her rifle, signalling that’s what she called her gun, Lady Luck. “What could the assignment be that you guys have the confidence that I can handle it on my own?” Both Gimmy and Darry smiled.

 

GUARD DUTY!

 

“Are you serious!?” Anne flailed her arms wildly. She was transported somewhere derelict. Not remote, but she was in front of, what looked like an old office building. The buildings neon signs have long been non-operational, the foundation and walls cracked along, and the five story building had so many windows that have been filthy for what seemed like decades. “What exactly am I guarding here!?”

 

“Don’t ask, don’t tell.” Gimmy’s voice spoke in her head. She got angry at this thought of him keeping her in the dark. “Mom and dad put you up to this, is that it?” She thought all the possibilities of why she was assigned such a task. It wasn’t as if she was very far away from the main office, she was probably two streets down. Away from civilization to be declared derelict, but close enough that the team could easily go into this building should the need arise. Anne sat close by the rusted metal door main entrance of the building, resting her rifle against her shoulder. Eight years on board the Marmota. Eight years of training. Eight years of looking 17 throughout. All just so that she could plant her butt on the concrete floor and rest her back against the uncomfortable ridges of the building exterior. “Guess this is going to be a boring night.” 

 

“HERE!” Big Mama stuck a knife into a large city map blueprint. The paper was yellowed, it was an old map. “This here, is the place we need to get into.” “What in there?” Coco asked. “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” Patience was wearing thin on Lieutenant Scourge who very much didn’t enjoy sitting around. “We’ve wasted enough time here boy, your job is clear.” Scourge slammed his fist on the table and pointed at the knife which pointed to a large office building outline. “You need to break into here, from the underground. You check out the coast is clear, PROPERLY this time.” Coco rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, but Scourge wasn’t his friend to joke around. “Once it’s clear, you open the doors so we can get our trucks in, and we get out. Failure to do any of this results in me personally coming over and taking you out of your misery.” 

 

Coco wasn’t stupid, he looked at Lieutenant Scourge, he was a man twice, maybe even three times his size in muscle mass easily. “Alright then,” Coco agreed, “Then I guess I should get started.” Coco covered up his face with his red cape, he brought out his drill and aimed down inside the warehouse they were in. Big Mama waved her finger, “None of your drilling nonsense in here, you’ll ruin the floor.” “Then how do I?” “Latrine!” Big Mama snapped immediately back, “Go outside in the back. NOW!”

 

“Oh this is disgusting!” Coco thought aloud as he was sifting through a tunnel that ran perpendicular to the outhouse latrine the gangsters used. He was prone, crawling around, nose depp and sloshing through who knows what. “Need to find….soil!” he tried to hold his breath as long as he could, but the smell was pungent. When he couldn’t stand it anymore, he aimed his drill in another direction and began drilling. “Just remember Coco,” he assured himself, “Old man taught you, the only way to go...is forward.” He struggled to think, it smelled awful in that tunnel. “And if there is no path, carve it down yourself.”

 

‘Hear the dirt, hear the soil’. ‘Go this way’ it will say. ‘Go that way’. ‘The dirt is softer here’. These thoughts resonated in Coco’s head as he continued drilling. By no means was digging tunnels a more manageable way to travel, but it was Coco’s way. He learned long ago that the quickest path is not always a straight line, but the path that the earth guides you towards, the path you make yourself. Directions were fuzzy for people who normally took to the tunnels, but for Coco, it was his only map. The dirt and earth told him how to reach his destination and how to get there. He would hear noises, signs of electrical buzzing, signs of water pressure, each distinct sound would drive him to make the appropriate path choice to find what he was looking for.

 

And find it he did. Coco looked up, began drilling right away, and before he knew it, a hole appeared above him. He peeked his head out, “I guess this is the place.” It was very cluttered. He looked around, old gunmen, lots of crates, tarps over things hanging off the ceiling. The building had an open floor plan. Other than the catwalks that lined the far ends of the walls, everything you needed to see in this building was out in the open. It’s no wonder this building is deserted, who would suspect a derelict office building to house what seems like an endless supply of weaponry for some type of organization?

 

Coco walked cautiously around the building, tiptoeing as he pulled off his cape off his mouth now that he was out of the tunnel. He saw the loading doors, he would open them after he made sure the coast is clear. Then and only then would the gangsters let him go and he could continue living the poor, carefree life that he always wanted to. He checked carefully this time, behind every crate, behind every tarp, but when he reached the center of the room, he saw something. A red gigantic combined gunmen, it’s face was distinctive, it’s chest bore what looked like dark sunglasses. “Gurren Lagann!?” It’s reputation is well known. “This is Gurren Lagann!” he excitedly jumped, “This is the REAL GURREN LAGANN!” 

 

Coco saw Gurren Laganns and Grapearl units fly into the sky when he was younger. On those silent days when he scavenged for cocowalnuts, he would bring the only thing he had in his possession, a drill, and crack them open as he drank the delicious cocowalnut juice while watching the mecha fly in spiral formation in the night sky. He always wanted to go to the stars, and with the Perception Teleportation Transit, he did so, but it was expensive. He wanted to pilot a Gurren Lagann, a Grapearl, he wanted to be one with the stars. But now he was a thief. He had dreams of flying high into space, but the reality was, he was a thief. The thought discouraged him a bit, but he focused and began to question, “If this is Gurren Lagann, what is this pl-”

 

Ping…

 

Coco heard what seemed like glimmer off a very shiny object, his instincts dictated him to duck. BLAM! He was right, the first shot was from an armor piercing electric pulse rifle aimed at him. He was unaware how close he came to becoming blood and guts. The bullet loudly ricocheted off the hard cement floor. “That was a warning shot,” the shooter spoke, “I thought this was going to be a boring night, a boring assignment.” The woman’s face reflected off the bright moonlight that beamed its’ way into the compound. Coco got a good look, she flicked her hair back, revealing her clean young face. It sparkled white in Coco’s eyes. Thankfully, the woman had her curvaceous biker bodysuit zipped up to not show off too much of her figure. 

 

Coco nervously stumbled on his words as he spoke. He had literally never spoken to any decent looking girl who would engage in any sort of social interaction with him. It was rather embarrassing actually. Coco back at the village would either follow his old man around, or continue drilling tunnels. When he got out, it was usually dark and all the girls had usually gone in. This would be his first experience with one, the situation was rather awkward. “H-H-H-Hey,” he nervously stumbled, “Listen, you’re a girl and-” 

 

“WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?” 

 

“Well I just, my old man says to like never fight girls and-” “Oh,” she trained her sights next on Coco’s lower extremities, “So you’re one of THOSE kind of men eh?” She cocked her bolt of her rifle back. “How about I even the odds and make you a girl too!?” Anne locked onto her sights with her steely cold eyes and the ignition in her pulse rifle sparked another armor piercing bullet his way. In a panic, Coco nervously ducked, and instead of being that other word that ends in ducked, he ended up falling in luck. His arm drill was at the perfect height and material that it once again ricocheted another bullet off of Anne Littner’s rifle, and somehow found its’ way lodged into the ignition system of her electrical rifle. 

 

Anne flicked her eyes open. Surprise hit her when she realized that this dirty punk decided to break and enter, chastise her equality as a woman in the battlefield, and finally he did the one thing no one else managed to do: he dodged her bullet and he broke her rifle. Anne was furious. 

 

“Ok you turd stinker,” she insulted as the wind blew to her direction. Coco realizing that he was just through a septic system blushed uncontrollably at leaving such a terrible impression with the woman. “I swear, I was just going through the septic system.” “Are you a Dungian mixed breed of some sort?” Coco scratched his head. “Beetle-like animal, from the planet Tropicus, they stink like you and look ugly to boot.” “HEY!” Coco teared up a bit, “GIRLS ARE SO MEAN!?” he thought to himself. “Doesn’t matter what you are, rifle or no rifle, you’re going down.”

 

Anne jumped from the second floor catwalk. Coco looked at her land perfectly. He nervously gritted his teeth as he saw her cold look rush up to him. Right hook to his cheek on his face. It hurt, she followed up with another left hook to set him upright, he ate it once again on his other cheek. She delivered a straight kick directly to his solar plexus, he grunted as the impact pushed him back. “Please stop,” he begged as he adjusted some propulsors on his arm drill and aimed it at her. “PLEASE STOP!” He shot the air directly at her, the pressure was high, it blew Anne to the far wall, where her back collided with a crate. The impact of the crate gave one little surprise as Anne’s cleavage popped right open. 

 

PWHOOSH!

 

Coco’s nose shot up blood into the air at the sight of her pressed together chest. He fainted briefly as she shook her head from the impact. There was only one thing Anne could conclude. “He’s good,” she seriously assessed, “Who is he working for? The Anti-Human Revolution? A local gang? A PMC? Who? In any case, I can’t risk failing this mission, I know it was Chief and Inspector’s way of babying me, but he’s become a serious threat. I’m going to call backup.”

 

“Chief,” she pressed her inner earpiece, “I need backup, problem at the compound.” “Roger that!” Gimmy responded. “You can’t escape,” she told Coco, “My team is coming, and either you turn yourself in, or you just let me beat you senseless so you CAN go in.” “Please,” Coco begged, “I’m really not looking for a fight, some gangsters they’re forci-” “SHUT UP!” Anne impulsively snapped, “You’re going down, AHHHHH!” Anne charged head on towards him, bent over and a fist above her head, feeling the energy build up as she charged it while she was running. 

 

Coco suddenly saw it all in slow motion, he turned around quickly and ran the other direction, the cape inadvertently whipping up as the air picked it up. Anne kept rushing in, “Wearing capes? Bad move.” Anne caught up with Coco, using her free hand, she grabbed his cape...but he forgot to fasten it over his neck, making Anne tear the cape right off and drape over her, blinding her from seeing anything and smelling the remnants of sewage on his cape. “It reeks,” she thought as she turned green. Concerned, Coco turned around and accidentally used his wrong arm to catch the mummified Anne, his drill arm. In a panic, not seeing anything, Anne tried to grab the first thing she could for support, but ended up pressing a button on his arm drill. The drill got caught on the cape and spun Anne around laterally. She was literally in a spin cycle under the sheets. The combination of a shit infested cape, a spin cycle, and Anne’s motion sickness were enough to make her change many colors. In a quick frantic search for the manual override kill switch to his arm drill, Coco pressed it. The momentum from Anne’s spinning and the sudden stop of motion tossed her off like a rag doll.

 

Anne skidded on the concrete floor. Her skin avoided major scrapes due to her specially made biker suit - made of extremely fibrous material that could resist many high impact scrapes and bumps. Coco knew the calvary would arrive soon, he heard it, he frantically grabbed his cape and began to shimmy himself into the hole where he drilled out of. Before he left, he took one last look. The sleeping beauty, Anne Littner, lay on the floor face down, visibly knocked out. His conflicted head and heart fighting as they decided what the most moral thing to do would be. He dipped his head down, then quickly changed his mind and brought his head back up. “Who am I kidding?” he chided himself as he walked over to the unconscious body of Anne, “Hey...hey…” he flipped her around and began shaking her. “Are you okay!? HEY!” He yelled louder to bring her back to the land of consciousness.

 

Anne slowly peered her eyes open, twitching her lips as she woke up and tried to assess what just happened. “Oh man,” Coco blushed at her radiant face, “She’s way too pretty to be a soldier. Just who is she?” Anne affixed her dazed eyes on Coco, not quite getting the smell of feces out of her nose. Her vision cleared up as she looked at the young faced, pointy chinned, brown cowlick hair spewing thief. “He’s not a Dungian,” she thought to herself, “Human, he looks human, he reminds me of someone. But who?” 

 

“URK!” Coco placed his hand over his left side of his neck. He pulled out a dart. “Night night,” he drooled as he fell face first. Sylveria’s anesthetic poison darts struck him as she, Noda, and Reza knelt down close to Anne. “You okay Rook?” Noda asked. “Yeah.” she replied, not wanting to say anymore. “Just what the hell happened over here?” Reza looked around at broken crates, a broken rifle, and lots of debris everywhere. Anne looked sternly at the sleeping Coco, still drooling in his sleep.

 

“Don’t ask, don’t tell.”


End file.
